This photo taken Thursday, May 24, 2012, shows a tornado seconds after lifting off the ground, with a rainbow in the background, near Cornlea, Neb.

I awoke last night around midnight because my dog was pulling my hair — she was standing on it. She was on my bed standing over my head, which is something she does to protect me, even though the effect is that I’m quite pinned down and staring into her furry dog belly.

“What is it, Margie Girl?” Then I hear the sirens. I think they’re tornado sirens, but I’m not sure because I’ve never lived where tornadoes come around much. I persuade Margie to stand down, and I turn on TV. There’s the scroll: Tornado warning. People in Denver, Jefferson and other counties are advised to take shelter. “Holy cow, Margie.”

My initial reaction is annoyance because my basement is unfinished, concrete-floored, cob-webby, devoid of any creature comforts and not quite as high as I am tall. Yet I feel it’s foolish to ignore tornado sirens. And adrenalin is pumping. I throw aside the basement trapdoor and drag Margie downstairs with me. She’s not happy about the basement, resists at first, but finally succumbs to something in my tone of voice and the rawhide chew in my hand. The two cats, even though agitated, ignore their invitation to shelter with us.

I just bought this house a month ago, so, “Of course,” I mutter to Margie, “it will now be destroyed by a rare Edgewater tornado.” I forgot my smartphone upstairs, but I don’t want to wrestle my dog down here again. And the sirens are really wailing. I can hear an ill wind.

I don’t know if I’m over-reacting or under-reacting. The tornado warning was set to expire in about 15 minutes. But I’m an American of a certain age, and I don’t want to be uncomfortable or bored for even 15 minutes.

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